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Harold Jenkins had been kicking around the music scene in Oklahoma and Arkansas since he was a teenager back in the 40s. He even had his own local radio show in Helena, Arkansas.
He almost gave up music for baseball--and he was pro material, too--
but then the Army came calling and it was off to the Far East.
He began performing for his fellow soldiers, who encouraged him to forget about baseball and make music his vocation--which he took to heart.
When Elvis Presley came on the scene, Harold thought he sounded enough like The King to make some rock & roll records...so off he went to Sun Records in Memphis for advice from Sun's owner Sam Phillips, who discovered Elvis, as well as Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Rich and others.
Long about that time, Harold decided his name wasn't "memorable enough" and changed it to Conway Twitty, after Conway, Arkansas and Twitty, Texas.
The rest is history. Conway became a legendary Country Music star, scoring hit after hit including several #1 country songs, right up until his death in 1993.
But let's back up a bit. His first several records after his name change were rock & roll.
In 1958, he released a song called "I'll Try," which went nowhere on the charts. A radio station in Ohio, flipped it over to play the "B" side, and before long, all the radio stations were playing it! After all, "It's Only Make Believe" sounded a LOT like Elvis...and Elvis was HOT.
And so was Conway! The song became a Top 10 hit in 6 countries, including #1 in The US, UK, and Canada! Strangely, it never made the Country Charts.
A few years later, Conway switched completely over to country music, and never looked back.
Then, in 1970, Glen Campbell, wo was already a crossover country/pop star, released a cover version that did Conway proud! It became a Top 10 hit in 8 countries, including a chart hat trick in the US: #2 (Easy Listening), #3 (Country) and #10 (Hot 100).
"It's Only Make Believe:" A "Great Song of 1958" by Conway Twitty, and 1970 by Glen Campbell!
Glen:
Conway:
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